Protection of the Vulnerable
Pillar #3
The laws and policies of civil government must provide for the safety and security of the citizens, especially the vulnerable among us
Civil government has many responsibilities however it only has one primary responsibility. It is, to provide for the safety and security of the citizens.
All other aspects of our life here in Canada break down if civil government fails to fulfill their responsibility to us in this regard.
One way that our federal government fulfills this responsibility to us is through policies and laws.
Several recent examples of the failure of government to meet their primary responsibility to us was the Federal Liberal Government’s rush to pass marijuana laws here in Canada. Insufficient care and attention were given to the risks this legislation would have on vulnerable people that live among us in our communities.
In addition, while still failing to provide evidence that the legalization of marijuana was not harming vulnerable citizens, the federal Liberal Government implemented their plan to legalize edible marijuana products in October of last year.
Another example was the failure of the federal Liberal Government to ensure vulnerable Canadians were protected when they passed euthanasia laws. Government leaders were repeated warned that a rush to pass laws deficient in protections would have lethal results. And it has.
As a result, serious gaps in protections for the vulnerable now exist between federal euthanasia law, provincial government laws and oversight provided by provincial medical colleges.
Policy Proposals:
(One is too many) Vulnerable Persons Protection Act
Our Federal Liberal Government has repeatedly applied what appears to be ‘acceptable loss theory’ in their legislative calculus of dangerous legislative proposals.
That is why we are seeking support from CPC Leadership Election Candidates for the,
(One is too many) Vulnerable Persons Protection Act.
This Act establishes in law the requirement for the federal government to complete and publish, a comprehensive assessment of the risk to vulnerable persons for all legislative or policy proposals.
This assessment would clearly show who, and to what degree, specific vulnerable people groups in society are at increased risk with the passing of each new law.
We are willing to do it for the environment. It is our hope our federal government will demonstrate the same duty of care for the vulnerable citizens that live among us in our communities.
Support the Born Alive Infant Protection Act
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), in Canada (excluding Quebec), there were 766 late-term live birth abortions in a five-year period from 2013 to 2018.
Our Criminal Code makes it clear that children who survive an abortion have legal rights upon birth. That includes the right to life and the right to medical treatment.
Medical staff, therefore, have an ethical and legal duty to care for a baby born alive.
Upon becoming aware of this reality, we are hopeful that you our friends in the Conservative Party share our deep concern and want to know; how could this happen? How are these babies cared for? Is palliative care provided?
While medical colleges and provincial governments work to answer these questions for us, we can act in a compassionate way. We are asking CPC Leadership Election Candidates, to support the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, that will undergird and strengthen the specific, affirmative duty of physicians and medical professionals to provide medical care and treatment to infants born alive at any stage of development.
Establish the Science and Medical Research Secretariat (SAMRS)
Our Canadian federal government must always utilize credible and verifiable scientific research when drafting policy responses to critically important issues such as Health Policy and Climate Change.
That is why are seeking support for the establishment of the Science and Medical Research Secretariat (SAMRS).
The work of SAMRS will reside on an internet-based platform that is fully transparent and easily accessible to all Canadians. It will be a platform where legislators and policy-makers can share the most up to date and complete scientific research in support of their legislative proposals and policies.
Government policies and legislative proposals are far too often influenced by electoral cycles and partisan politics. The establishment of SAMRS will ensure that scientific data utilized to inform government policies and laws is transparent.
SAMRS will also serve as a platform for health and medical research that is utilized to inform healthcare related policies and legislative proposals of the federal government.
Establish the National Standards for Informed Consent
Members of the Conservative Party of Canada have always extended a compassionate hand to those in need. It is a core principle of our party that when our fellow citizens are wounded and in need, we must show compassion and care for them.
That is a foundational belief of the faith communities of Canada as well and we believe there is much we can accomplish together with our friends in the Conservative Party.
Together we can effectively respond to the sad reality that many citizens among us are wounded by deficiencies in the service that our government provides. One example is the harm that comes to women who choose to terminate their pregnancies without being provided adequate information to fully inform their consent to the procedure.
Repeatedly women in Canada have told us that when making the decision to terminate their pregnancy they were not provided quality information, or enough information as part of the process.
In addition, questions are now also being raised about the information that is being provided citizens looking into death by euthanasia and the adequacy of the procedures leading up to the death of euthanasia patients.
That is in large part why we are seeking support from CPC Leadership Election Candidates for the establishment of National Standards for Informed Consent for euthanasia, abortion, adolescent hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgeries.
Canadians have the right to the very best information available before making important decisions about these high-risk medical procedures and we want to support a Candidate who will work closely with their provincial counterparts and their respective Provincial Medical Colleges to ensure vulnerable Canadians are protected from deficiencies in the quantity and quality of the information necessary to make informed choices about their personal healthcare.
Work to Seek Support For Cassie and Molly’s Law
During a previous session of parliament, Private member’s Bill C-225, also known as Cassie and Molly’s Law, was named after Cassandra Kaake.
Cassandra was seven months pregnant when she was found dead at the scene of an arson in Windsor, Ont. in 2014. Within a very short period of time from her death, Cassandra would have given birth to her baby and had planned to call her Molly.
On the day Cassandra was murdered, she had gone out and was planning her baby shower. When she returned home, a struggle ensued, and Cassandra was strangled until she was unconscious.
It was reported that her throat had been slit, her fingertips were cut off and her body was doused in gasoline before the house was set on fire.
The Cassie and Molly’s Law bill, called for an amendment that would, “make it a separate offence to cause injury or death to a pre-born child during the commission of an offence against the child’s mother.”
At first reading of the bill a majority of Members of Parliament in the House of Commons voted down this legislative proposal. Many of our Conservative Members of Parliament expressed great disappointment with the Liberal Government’s lack of support for the bill.
We are therefore asking our CPC Leadership Election Candidates to seek support from all Parliamentarians for the reintroduction of this legislative proposal.
We understand that reintroducing legislation only to have it fail would be heartbreaking for Cassandra’s family and friends, so we are asking CPC Leadership Election Candidates to simply commit to first seeking support for legislation, with amendments if necessary, and then reintroduce the bill so that Members of Parliament, on all sides of the House, will have an opportunity to reconsider their vote and cast it again.
This time in favour of Cassie and Molly, and all the other women and their unborn babies, who are more vulnerable to violent assault and who are in need additional protections in law.
Support Community Solutions Partnership Grant Program
No one understands better the basic human needs of vulnerable people living within their community than the people who care for them. That is why we must allow citizens within local communities to come up with their own solutions as to how to care for vulnerable people.
But the federal government can still play a role in supporting their efforts.
That is why we are seeking the support of CPC Leadership Election Candidates for the,
“Community Solutions Partnership Grant Program.”
This proposed ‘dollar-matching’ grant program will help unleash the awesome power of communities who come together with the common goal of serving those with the greatest need.
Citizens in the towns and cities of our nation from the faith & business communities, along side indigenous and municipal government leaders, will be encouraged to work together to identify those people among them who are struggling to meet their most basic needs.
Together, these community members will all partner, pool their financial and human resources – and the federal government will be right there with them to support their efforts with matching dollars.
With local community members taking the lead on this initiative, Canadians can be confident that their federal tax dollars will be utilized in a way that best serves the most vulnerable among us and accomplishes this by leveraging one of the most valuable resources we have here in Canada…
Local Community Partnerships (LCPs).